Seeing Other Wolves
by Villain84
Summary: Humphrey and Kate decide to take a break from each other and see other wolves. Will they find new mates? Requested by odst7598. NOT ABANDONED


"Goal!" Shakey shouted with glee as he smacked the pebble under Mooch's belly.

"No fair! The sun was in my eyes!" Mooch shouted back, frustrated.

"What are you talking about? The sun's almost gone!" Shakey cackled. "Besides, you snooze, you loose!"

"I wasn't snoozing!"

"That's five for Shakey, 3 for Mooch!" Humphrey announced, trying to calm down the argument.

"Oh, that's it, bub!" Mooch growled. "Time to get serious."

"It was time to get serious five points ago, man!" Shakey laughed.

Mooch tossed the pebble up and smacked it down at Shakey again, and they continued their fray. Humphrey and Salty sat on the side lines and watched the pebble be thrown back and forth between their pals.

It had been a beautiful day in Jasper Park. The sun had been shining all day, birds were fluttering around everywhere, all flowers had blossomed. Spring had done its duty, and was nearly ready to pass the torch to Summer time. While the omegas had been playing around, doing what they normally do, the alphas and betas were out on their daily hunt, and probably had a load of caribou for dinner by now. The western and eastern packs had been united for about a week now, and so far, there have been no complaints. Everyone seemed to be happy. Alphas and omegas could be together, and now the united pack had plenty of meat to go around for everyone.

Humphrey and his three best friends were all hanging out together at their favorite hang out spot by the puddle they washed at, just playing their pebble tennis game, shooting the breeze.

Suddenly, Salty turned to Humphrey and started talking. "Hey, Humphrey."

Drawn away from the game, Humphrey turned to face his friend. "Hm, yeah?"

"How are things going with you and Kate?"

"What? Uh, things are going great." Humphrey stuttered. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you know, it's just that the last few days, I've kind of noticed that you were not really wanting to spend much time with her, sort of been hanging out with us more, oogling at some of the hot singles with me and Mooch." Salty's voice started to trail off.

"What? What are you saying?" Humphrey asked, curiously.

"I mean I just think it's a bit weird. You talk about Kate, oogle her, pretty much obsess over her for most of your puppyhood, and now you finally have her for your girl, and you kind of avoid her? I mean what's up with that?"

"Nothing." Humphrey stammered back. "Kate and I just need our personal space."

"You give her a lot more personal space than I would expect." Salty snickered.

Humphrey raised his eyebrow to him. "You know what I think might be your problem Humphrey?" Salty went on, "I think that you don't think being mates with Kate is all that great. You know? You finally got what you asked for, and you realize its not what you want?"

"What do you mean? I love Kate. I always have." Humphrey insisted.

"Really? Or did you just think you did, and now you're getting a bit tired of her?"

"What? That's ridiculous."

"You know Humphrey, you spent most of your puppyhood chasing after Kate." Salty said calmly. "You never really took the time to try to hit on any omega girls that you could have had, unlike the three of us." Salty took a second to reflect on how unsuccessful he and Mooch were at getting girls. About a day after the day the packs united, Shakey started dating Janice, so he had found someone, leaving Salty and Mooch as the only two singles in the gang.

Salty snapped out of it and went on with his words. "I think now you're kind of regretting how you wasted your puppyhood doing that. You wish you had enjoyed your single wolf status when you had a chance, and had your taste of all the foods in the buffet."

Humphrey opened his mouth to answer, but then closed it again and thought about those words. Deep down, he could see that Salty had a point, and that he was right. He had been avoiding Kate lately, even when she was done with her alpha duties some days, he still preferred to stay out with his friends than spend time with her. And he never really noticed it but he had been staring at and drooling over a lot of single girls with Salty and Mooch.

Humphrey sighed and turned back to Salty. "You know, Salty, I think you might be right. I do want to see what its like to be with other wolves besides Kate."

"Well then buddy, if you want to be happy, you need to break up with Kate and go out with more girls."

"I can't break up with Kate." Humphrey said, almost whining.

"Sure you can. It can't be that hard. Just tell her you want to see other wolves, and that you think you two should take a break. It's that simple." Salty put his paw on Humphrey's shoulder. "And when you do break up with her, and you need some help hitting it off with other girls, I'm here for ya man!"

"Thanks Salty." Humphrey replied sullenly before turning away from him.

"Seven-Five!" They heard Shakey suddenly shout. "That's a skunk Mooch! I win!"

"I'll get you next time!" Mooch snapped back, holding back a giggle. Although he lost, he still had fun, and that was the important part in this simple game.

"Okay, see you guys tomorrow." Shakey cheered happily as he bounded off to his and Janice's den, clearly excited to see his mate again.

"Come on, Salty, let's get back to our den." Mooch said to Salty and turned around.

"Ok. See you guys tomorrow." Humphrey called after them in a sad tone, his mind still on his talk with Salty just now.

As he started to follow Mooch away, Salty looked over his shoulder to Humphrey, and gave him a quick wink.

Slowly, Humphrey turned and walked off towards the den that he and Kate had been sharing. All along the walk, he felt like crying. He was not sure he could do this, or if he even wanted to do it. Until a couple of days ago, he felt for sure that he and Kate were perfect for each other. Was Salty right? That he was wrong? That he does want to hit on other girls? That he is not happy with Kate anymore? This was going to be the hardest decision he had to make in a long time.

* * *

><p>Humphrey sat in the den and waited for Kate to return. The sun had nearly set, and the sky was lit up in a darkening orange. Humphrey lay down on the ground, his arms folded, not looking at the entrance. Finally, a shadow crossed over his face, and he looked up to face Kate. A bloody sirloin was in her mouth.<p>

"Hi, Humphrey." She said through her clenched teeth. "I brought you some dinner." There was a slight sense of awkwardness in her voice. She was probably confused as to why Humphrey was not there at the meal with the rest of the pack.

"Hi Kate." Humphrey stood up, still somewhat sullenly. "Thanks." He walked over and took the slab of juicy meat from Kate's mouth. As their muzzles passed, their cheeks brushed, and their eyes met briefly. Kate saw a bit of saddness in his eyes, and knew that something bad was coming.

Humphrey took the steak, and sat down with it and started eating.

"So, how was your day?" Kate said, trying to smile. She was still acting a little awkward. She knew just as well as he did that Humphrey had not been acting very intimate with her lately, and she was trying to keep that spark alive anyway she could.

"Pretty good." Humphrey said casually.

Finally, Kate could not keep silent about it any longer. "What is going on with us lately?" She blurted out in a desperate tone. "When I come home from my alpha duties, it's like you want to get away from me. Like you can't stand being around me. What happened to you all of a sudden?"

Humphrey had looked up and stood up from his meat. His turquoise eyes looked strait into her amber eyes. At first, his mind went blurry. He did not know what exactly to say. He knew if he said what he had wanted to say, it would lead to trouble.

"Humphrey, please. Talk to me." Kate said, tears starting to develop in her eyes.

Humphrey was on the verge of tears himself. He hated seeing Kate getting upset. And this led him to imagine how devastated she would be when he said the next thing. At last, he knew he head to say it, so he took a deep breath, and spoke.

"Kate, I think we should see other wolves."

**Author's Note: I hope we're off to a good start with this new story. Hope you liked it so far. I'll get to work on it more when I get a chance. It might be a while because I have A LOT of other projects that I want to at least get started on. And don't worry all _Humphrey's Bachelor Party_ fans. I will get to that when I have a chance too.**

**And I thank anyone who decides to review, subscribe, favorite, and otherwise support my stories. Thank You, and stay tuned.**


End file.
